Faun fables
Faun Fables are an American music and performance group from Oakland , California . The band was founded in 1997 by Dawn McCarthy , who was then still living in New York and temporarily staying in Eastern Europe.
Style and musical development
Stylistically, the music of the Faun Fables is difficult to classify, with elements of various folk genres mostly in the foreground. This can be seen on the one hand in the use of acoustic instruments such as guitar, violin, cello, bodhrán and glockenspiel , on the other hand in the adaptations of traditional folk songs on more recent publications. Nevertheless, the sound is often supplemented by elements of rock, but also musicals and experimental music, sweeping percussion interludes are not uncommon. The compositions are only occasionally designed for harmony, which is also evident in McCarthy's unpretentious but expressive singing.
Comparisons can be drawn with folk artists like Devendra Banhart and Current 93 , but also with female singers like Ewa Demarczyk . On the first albums McCarthy took over almost the entire songwriting, all other contributors were guest musicians. From the “Family Album” (2004) onwards, however, Nils Frykdahl (member of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Idiot Flesh ) is a relatively permanent part of the band and forms a counterpoint to the singer's soprano with his baritone . The newer albums occasionally refer to the compositions of other artists, e.g. B. classical composers of the 20th century are used. The Faun Fables see themselves as a live band whose performances have a strong theatrical quality. In addition to dance and puppet theater, the performances are strongly influenced by American, English, Northern and Eastern European folklore, which is shown, among other things, in imaginative costumes. The respective performances are narrative and often correspond to the narrative internal structure of the newer concept albums. For example, the album “The Transit Rider” (2006) and the associated performance were based on a complex concept around the rather general concept of travel.
While many guests are involved in the recordings and performances at the Faun Fables, Dawn McCarthy supports her musician friends live and in the studio. Some of the more popular contributions include vocal interludes on some of Will Oldham's recent releases .
Publications
- Early Song (self-published 1999)
- Mother Twilight (2001)
- Family Album (2004 Drag City )
- Early Song (2004 Drag City, re-release)
- Mother Twilight (2004 Drag City, re-release)
- The Transit Rider (2006 Drag City)
- A Table Forgotten EP (2008 Drag City)
- Light Of A Vaster Dark (2010 Drag City)